For Coweta County, it’s all about the synergies

“We look for communities where business, industry and government can work together, and we love the kind of synergy and responsiveness that we see here in Coweta County.” – Derieth Sutton, Niagara Bottling LLC

That is music to the ears of any economic developer, but, for Coweta County, it is a sentiment that we often hear.

Earlier this year, Niagara Bottling, the nation’s largest private-label water bottling company, announced plans to build its newest production facility in Newnan, starting with 70 employees and investing nearly $80 million in the community. Plus, existing industries continue to expand locally. Yokogawa is in the middle of a 60,000-square-foot expansion while Yamaha, the county’s largest private employer, has completed the transfer of its ATV production from overseas facilities to the Newnan plant, adding hundreds of jobs in the process.

Industrial expansions are not limited to just large companies either. Two years ago, Scotland’s Air Power Hydraulics located a small facility in Coweta but quickly outgrew its original space. In fact, the company has done so well that it has been nominated for the Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business of the Year Award.

Coweta is blessed with plenty of industrial property, with industrial sites available at all five of the interchanges along Interstate 85, just south of Atlanta. Plus, a decision late last year by the Coweta County Commission to effectively eliminate impact fees has prompted a renewed vigor in product development.

Most recently, Pattillo Industrial Real Estate, the owner and developer of the 768-acre Coweta Industrial Park, began clearing its largest site, which will accommodate a building up to 1.3 million square feet.

Coweta’s economic growth has not been limited to the industrial sector. Health care continues to expand in the county, with the University of West Georgia estimating that health-care accounts for 1 out of every 9 jobs in the county.

Health care has always been a part of the community’s history; however, recent health-care projects have moved Coweta County to the forefront of medical care in the region.

In 2012, Piedmont Newnan Hospital opened a new hospital near I-85 to replace two existing facilities in the community. Later in the year, Cancer Treatment Centers of America opened its Southeastern regional hospital in Newnan. The hospital is already in the midst of a major expansion project, which included the first tower crane used in construction in the county.

Construction crews are nearing completion on HealthSouth’s new comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation hospital. Plus, the community has rallied behind the Certificate of Need application filed by Newnan Behavioral Hospital to convert one of the former Piedmont Newnan facilities into a behavioral hospital.

Helping drive the economic activity has been Coweta’s focus on a qualified workforce. Central Educational Center was Georgia’s first college and career academy, opening in 2000 as a partnership between the local school system, West Georgia Technical College and the local business community. The mission is simple: to ensure a viable 21st-century workforce through a curriculum based upon the needs of local business and industry.

West Georgia Technical College’s new campus in Coweta has helped to expand the technical college’s local offerings, particularly for the health-care industry. Built on donated property, the campus opened with two buildings — one built with state money and one with private donations. Since opening, the college has been able to serve more students from throughout the region.

It really does come down to the synergies, and there is no place better to see them in action than in Coweta County.